ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the survey of the development of "person" in Western society as a background to the contemporary contest between religion and secular society over how the human condition is to be apprehended and lived. Innovative Catholics, however, find themselves caught in the middle of these two understandings of the human condition, pressuring them to reconcile these polarised views by producing a hybridised concept of the human person. Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) offered Innovative Catholics, such as Val, then a young woman, an emotionally exuberant experience in ritualised reenactments of the Pentecost. The introduction of psychospiritual knowledges has made it possible for Innovative Catholics to move away from predetermined roles to self-understanding as a prerequisite for development or achievement. The way in which Popes John Paul and Benedict located the concept of person in a strongly bounded communitarian we proved difficult for Innovative Catholics as young adults.
